Potatoes and frost

I planted my potatoes on Good Friday, like grandma said to do. Most of them are up and we got hit with a good frost the past two nights. Will they continue to sprout, or am I going to have to replant them all? all of the leaves are dead. This is only my second year growing potatoes in the garden and I assumed they were frost tolerant because every old timer around here says to plant on Good Friday. Well, we sometimes get frost in the middle of May, so I don't know what their logic is.

Re: Potatoes and frost

Originally Posted by MDM

I planted my potatoes on Good Friday, like grandma said to do. Most of them are up and we got hit with a good frost the past two nights. Will they continue to sprout, or am I going to have to replant them all? all of the leaves are dead. This is only my second year growing potatoes in the garden and I assumed they were frost tolerant because every old timer around here says to plant on Good Friday. Well, we sometimes get frost in the middle of May, so I don't know what their logic is.

I'd wait before getting too excited. A little frost won't stop the process. That seed has more stems to push up. Mine got hit with 25 last night. Who me? Worry?

The idea behind the early planting of potatoes is somewhat based on tradition, but also some wisdom. The need to be well watered by the timely rains of May and June. They also need to be finishing before the super hot and dry days of late July and August. If you waited to plant until June first, your production might not be what you'd like.

Re: Potatoes and frost

That happened to me a few years ago when my potatoes were up about 4" plus or minus a bit and the frost/freeze turned them all black. I took an old pair of scissors and cut them off just about at the ground and they all came back and had as good a crop that year as any other.

Re: Potatoes and frost

This is good to know. I put in 4 60' rows of Yukon Gold. I pressure can all of mine. I may take Birds advise and clip off the dead stuff. Just the leaves are black, the stems seem OK for the most part.

Re: Potatoes and frost

Yes sir; I do like canned new potatoes. When I was a kid, we'd sit with a washtub full of water and little new potatoes and scrape the peels off. Then when I bought the place in the country, we had enough water pressure that I could just about blast peels off. And then I discovered that they were just as good canned with the peel still on; just scrubbed them clean with a brush and water and canned them. Then when a can was opened to use them, the peel would be real easy to pull off if you didn't want to eat it.

Re: Potatoes and frost

I planted a bunch of potatoes for the first time about 3 weeks ago. I don't really know what I'm doing in the garden, but was told to plant the pieces 4-6" deep. None have broke up out of the ground yet. Should I replant a little closer to the top, or will they still come up? We're in northwest Indiana.

Re: Potatoes and frost

That's a bit deeper than I would have planted, but I think you should continue to wait. We planted on Good Friday and mine have just started sprouting over the past week. Only maybe a quarter of mine have come up so far.

Re: Potatoes and frost

Originally Posted by mbosma

I planted a bunch of potatoes for the first time about 3 weeks ago. I don't really know what I'm doing in the garden, but was told to plant the pieces 4-6" deep. None have broke up out of the ground yet. Should I replant a little closer to the top, or will they still come up? We're in northwest Indiana.

I would just scratch a few up and see whats going on. You might find they are just about to break surface or they may be laying there rotting. Take a look and see whats going on.

Re: Potatoes and frost

I put some floating row covers over mine. I got the material from farm tek.
I have 4 x8 raised beds, so i cut a 1x4 x8 in half, then cut the 4' section in half again but at a 45 degree angle. I then drilled a hole through the top two pices and stuck a cotter pin in there. Next i took bailers twine and strung it between two of the triangular shaped pieces that were screwed to my beds kind of like A--------A and draped and pined the floating row cover over that. Holds it good, also holds it off the soil. This has really helped with any frost and seems to have warmed up the soil a bit. Other then that, last years frost was horrible, but i still had potatoes, I have some blue vikings in now, and have some german butter and some fingerlings to put in.